Let me put it this way: They print expiration dates on SALT.
Now, it’s pretty convenient that stores here in Denmark sell products cheaper just before they “expire” because certain products actually get better with time like cheese.
who are you?
Submitted 3 weeks ago by Deceptichum@quokk.au to memes@sopuli.xyz
https://quokk.au/pictrs/image/902ca7b5-9e20-4af9-80dc-a0b72dee2a87.jpeg
Comments
RedSnt@feddit.dk 3 weeks ago
piccolo@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
because certain products actually get better with time like cheese.
Under the right conditions. Sitting on grocery shelves is not one of those right conditions.
RedSnt@feddit.dk 3 weeks ago
In rare cases white mold cheese will taste like blue mold cheese because of cross contamination, but that’s about the only defect I’ve experienced buying cheese close to their expiration dates. Oh, and camembert cheeses being a bit too runny and ammonia tasting, but as a sicko I kind of like that.
Prime_Minister_Keyes@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
It’s about liability. Companies don’t want their salt returned to them after x years, especially not with some lame excuse. So they just define an expiration date y that’s far off enough to not drive customers away, but still minimizes the risk of complaints.
If a (big) customer successfully complains within this time span, they’ll simply decrease it.LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
As someone who has gone through old stuff like that, imo it’s the packaging (a lot of which these days is coated in plastics that degrade over time) that the expiration date is for rather than the actual product. Eg the cardboard will break down or the cans will rust into the product.
ArsonButCute@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Expiration dates are literally made up, very infrequently will any actual testing be done to see the exact time it takes for a food to decay enough to be either unenjoyable, unpalatable or inedible.
They’re usually 1 week from mfgr for unpreserved foods, 2 weeks to a month for soft foods like American sandwich bread, 3 months to a year for dry goods (depending on what it is) and up to several years for canned goods.
My salt has an expiration date. Salt is a rock, it is millions of years old (not sea salt, mined salt). It does not expire.
Pinklink@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
I don’t know where you got your information, and I can’t speak for other food stuffs, but I used to work in a milk bottling facility. I did quality assurance. Part of my job was to take gallons of milk (many of them) and put them in refrigeration until two days after the expiration date, and then taste them. While most of them tasted pretty much fine, about 30% were sour, coagulated, or some other sign of type of spoiled.
Expiration dates are real, but they are an estimation of when the product will go bad. Use your own judgement. Smells/tastes bad/weird, or is oddly oily and stuff, probably don’t consume that. Seems completely fine but past the expiration date, you will probably be completely fine.
vrek@programming.dev 3 weeks ago
I don’t mean any offense but is hiring someone to drink expired milk the best way of testing it? Can’t they like measure bacteria or chemical composition or something?
Cethin@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
Yeah, most experiation dates are made up. Some are real, like milk usually. I’ll still drink milk after the date, but I always make sure to smell it if I’m approaching or past that date.
99% of foods you can smell or see if they’ve gone bad before you taste it. Always use your senses, not some date printed on it by a manufacturer that wants to sell more product. We’re literally evolved to identify food that’s gone bad.
pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Maybe you can answer this. How can whipping cream have such a long shelf life? It’s like a month. Milk is usually a week or two.
dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Except diary. Milk has an expiration date that (for me at least) is accurate to within 12 hours or so, when refrigerated.
Protip: if this plagues you, grab the Lactaid (lactose-free) stuff. It lasts longer. Soy milk lasts even longer than that, but I get that’s not for everyone.
AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
There are different types of dates in the US. Few things have expiration dates, which means it can be dangerous (or, for medication, ineffective) after that date. Most things have “best before” dates, which means the company has tested the product that far from its production and found it still met the quality standard.
The problem is that the FDA requires that testing and that every product have such a date. People have mentioned salt, which is inert, having a date, and that’s probably the most ridiculous example, but there are lots of things that have super long shelf lives beyond the best buy dates. Honey, soy sauce, bottled water, and vinegar being examples that come to mind.
db2@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Old plastic bottled water can have chemicals from the plastic leached in to it that you wouldn’t want to ingest though.
RevolverSly@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Expiration dates are a myth
mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
They’re not a myth; they’re a scam. They’re set by the brands, by determining when the food is the “freshest”. But that determination is made entirely by the brand, and they have a direct financial incentive to encourage food waste. Because if consumers throw more food away, they buy more food. So they set the expiration dates extremely short, so people will throw food away before it actually goes bad.
ClamDrinker@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
It also very much depends on your country, food authority, and retailer. Some food authorities have stricter categories for very perishable foods where unless it has gone very bad, you can’t see it’s not suitable for consumption anymore, eg. meat and vegetable. And while the producer has an incentive to encourage waste, the retailer has the incentive to reduce it, as you typically can’t sell items to consumers that are no longer within date (Again, depending on your location). If an item is unreasonably often thrown out by the retailer, that leads to consequences in the deals being made between the retailer and the producer.
howrar@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
They’re also highly incentivized to make you eat it when it’s freshest so you have a good experience with their food and become a repeat customer.
driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 3 weeks ago
If they go to the expiration date while still on the shelf ig going to go back to them, the supermarket isn’t going to pay for that.
Comment105@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
Most things taste off or stale anywhere near the expression date.
If you can afford it and it’s a wildly overproduced thing like milk, I certainly wouldn’t encourage you to force it down.
If it’s scarce, don’t do it again. Maybe force it down. Probably use it in something where the lessened/worsened taste becomes a non-issue.
Underwaterbob@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
My wife just threw out a ~12 hour old fried rice we doggy bagged last night that I was planning on lunching on because we “touched it with our spoons”. Sigh.
Psythik@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
She does know that reheating leftovers is a thing, and that heat kills bacteria, right?
valtia@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Underwaterbob@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
It was in the fridge for 11 of those 12 hours!
JayDee@lemmy.sdf.org 3 weeks ago
Oh they’re real. They’re just arbitrary most of the time.
HalfSalesman@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
Expiration dates are useful, but they are not usually a hard end point to a food’s safety or edibility.
sploosh@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
One’s own nose is usually the best way to see if old food is edible. Doesn’t smell good enough to eat? Don’t eat it.
synae@lemmy.sdf.org 3 weeks ago
My sense of smell is pretty bad. I only keep milk in my fridge for coffee so it lasts a while, and once it’s past the date I smell it every day assuming it could have gone bad. Usually it hasn’t, but occasionally it has curdled into chunks, and apparently I can’t tell the difference with my nose - only once the pour feels “off” or the chunks make their way into my coffee can I have any better indicator.
Texas_Hangover@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Expiration dates have a lot of leeway.
null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Yeah this is me.
If it’s on or after the last day I need to leave it in the fridge for several weeks until I’m in the mood to acknowledge that it’s dead.
My partner does believe in use-by dates but she has very poor situational awareness and is just oblivious to the concept. Recently she tried drinking a flavoured milk that had been in the fridge for a few months.
meliaesc@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Was it flavored when she put it in the fridge?
themeatbridge@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I recognize that “best by” dates are mostly bullshit, but I’m also a firm believer in “why risk it?” Especially for food where you can’t tell if it’s gone bad, like canned goods. I don’t fuck around with botulism.
Rentlar@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
In Japan they have two types of dates, which map to “Use by” and “Best before”, but they don’t use them interchangeably or some vague middle-of-the-road term like “expiry date”. One is operative, the other is a recommendation.
消費期限 (shouhi-kigen) literally means “consumption time limit” and 賞味期限 (shoumi-kigen) literally means “guarantee of taste time limit”.
weker01@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Germany does that too.
Especially minced meat always is “use by” and you really should respect that. Someone I know went to the hospital for that.
agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Best By dates are not expiration dates, expiration dates are estimates.
That said, my wife has no concept of expiration until something is obviously covered in mold, and says some wild stuff. “Oh that’s got lemon juice in it, it doesn’t expire” like babe, lemon juice isn’t some timeless magic spell.
AmazingAwesomator@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
i’m the person that understands the conflict of interest between companies and the creation of their own expiration dates.
entwine413@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
In the US, expiration dates aren’t a thing. The date on the product is just the last date the company will guarantee it meets their quality standards.
AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
With one exception. Baby food/formula. Those companies do not fuck around with the dates, because they got regulated.
Damage@feddit.it 3 weeks ago
Are you sure you do? Expiration dates are a factor when buying food, longer shelf life usually boosts sales.
Source: worked for a time making machines specifically for enhancing the shelf life of a specific product.
DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Many years ago (I was there) expiration dates were useful and only on products that would actually expire–mostly just milk, cheese, and meat.
Then, I think it was Budweiser came up with the “born on date” marketing campaign for beer. Since then, on anything that doesn’t actually expire, like beer, it’s been used to prompt people to throw away perfectly good food, so they’ll hopefully buy more “fresh” food.
It’s been going on for so many years, we now have at least two generations who have been duped into believing them.
Klear@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Joke’s on you - I’m not in a relationship.
billwashere@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
My wife is servsafe certified and I have a terrible sense of smell. Guess which one I am?
yozul@beehaw.org 3 weeks ago
A lot of food doesn’t even have an expiration date. It’s more common on a lot of foods to have a sell by date, which is not the same thing as an expiration date, and some foods are even just labelled with a packaged date, which is hopefully always in the past. Otherwise you’ve got bigger problems than spoiled food. MREs are especially notorious for this.
That being said though, I’m still usually the one throwing food out. At some point you just have to admit you’re not going to eat it, and no one wants your dubious opened packages or half eaten leftovers. It’s just gonna have to go eventually.
SnokenKeekaGuard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Expiration date believers are my sworn enemies
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Why do you regret that?
SnokenKeekaGuard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Food waste. Completely unnecessary
ReputedlyDeplorable@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
They are estimations. I do give them weight in the to eat or not to eat decision, but I also use my own senses.
alzymologist@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
There is no “expired”, only “improperly fermented”. Sure, it could be very bad, but then you should’ve paid attention to it in advance, respect the nutrient and all living things who brought it about.
lukecooperatus@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
Could you explain your suggestion that there’s a correlation between one’s subjective awareness of a food item’s nutritional content and it’s objective fitness for human consumption over time? These things seem entirely unrelated to me.
alzymologist@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
There is nothing subjective here, it’s knowledge of biochemistry and manufacturers use of good practices. Of cousre, this is impossible on large scale production, yet you could be sure that your local milk providers milk will just become something else upon curdling, and your local butchery vacuum sealed bags are as clean from pathogens as their line and are good far beyond expiration date, but will change. And that things were stored correctly and are not blooming with thermophiles inside. I do not mean nutritional content, I only address industrial labeling and its purpose. And things that could not possibly be regulated, and have to rely on community (in many forms, from “lets love each other” to “I will break your face if you burn me, pal”). Eating expired stuff is an act of trust, whether it is trust to chance and supernatural, or trust of community that builds cultural value, is a whole different question.
Then you can always inoculate food yourself before expiration, but then it counts as cooking I guess.
peaceful_world_view@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I believe in expiration dates, my dogs do not.
wander1236@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
What if I’m both? I know expiration dates aren’t literally when the thing instantly stops being edible, but if the date is from months ago, I know it’s probably not worth it, except for maybe canned/frozen food.
deathbird@mander.xyz 3 weeks ago
What if neither of you believe in expiration dates but one of you think it turned and the other doesn’t?
Commiunism@beehaw.org 3 weeks ago
I was germophobic my entire life up until like a year or two ago where I kinda got over it and stopped giving a shit, but I’m still incredibly paranoid about food expiration, even when the best before day hasn’t been reached as is 1-2 days away.
lukecooperatus@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
These do not sound like mutually exclusive perspectives. Why not both?
can@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
I recognize that “best before” means exactly what it says
grrgyle@slrpnk.net 3 weeks ago
Me.
If it’s after the BB date it means you have to use your sense and senses to make the determination.
InFerNo@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
It’s not going to magically be super bad when it’s the BB date +1.